(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to food material, and to products for the packaging and serving of foods for consumer utility. More specifically it relates to a receptacle housing having two or more meal course portions which can be separated from the receptacle housing and be selectively heated and cooled using different types of appliances.
(b) Discussion of the Prior Art
It is well known that a modern day homemaker has a myriad of choices when purchasing food products. For example, in addition to fresh meat and produce and traditional canned goods, there are now a vast selection of frozen foods. The canned goods include packages which include separately canned items that are packaged together, opened, heated and then served together on a dinner plate. The frozen foods include multi-course frozen dinners that are packaged for heating in a conventional oven, or packaged in microwave-safe containers that can be quickly heated in a microwave oven.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,014 to Bouman discloses a rupturable package for holding in separable compartments items such as food, drink and tableware. U.S. Pat. No. 2,705,579 to Mason, U.S. Pat. No. 3,185,578 to Scharre, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,776,787 to Nicol describe different types of condiment packaging and tray and can closures. Fontona, et al U.S. Pat. Nos. Des. 297,115; 297,116; 297,117; 297,118; and 297,119, all of which are assigned to Kraft, Inc. disclose, various configurations of compartmented containers, in which there are score lines between the compartments, apparently to allow them to be separated. Review of the files of these Design Patents and of other information from Kraft, Inc. suggests that these compartmented containers are used for refrigerated or frozen items, in which one item is a dairy product course, such as yogurt, and the second item is a topping or a mix-in such as fruit or a flavoring. It is further noted that compartments of such great depth as those depicted in the several Fontana, et al U.S. Patents would not be practical for heating a frozen food item in either a conventional oven or in a microwave oven.
Biggins U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,876 discloses a food container having a housing for inclosing an eating utensil which may be removed from the container after it is opened. Asher U.S. Pat. No. 3,565,245 discloses a combination food container and utensil, in which the utensil is formed as an integral, but removable part of the container. U.S. Pat. No. 3,679,093 to Chang describes a combination food container for holding an implement separately from a food item stored therein.
Besset U.S. Pat. No. 3,381,825 discloses a serving tray which includes a cup-accommodating opening having a number of elongated bendable fingers which fingers yield when a cup is placed in the opening to thereby provide a support for a cup when it is placed in the opening. Thomas U.S. Pat. No. 3,498,470 discloses a serving tray having an integral cup holder which is circular and stepped to provide firm support for a plurality of sizes of tapered cups in the cup receiving holder. It will be noted that with regard to both of these references, cups are utilized or added which are not an integral part of the original packaging, and which include no meal course which was included with the original package.
Sato U.S. Pat. No. Des. 296,871 discloses a container for confectionery (candy) which is multi-layered and segmented.
Other prior art which discloses different types of food packaging and trays are U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,681 to Goings, U.S. Pat. No. 3,704,779 to Nigg, U.S. Pat. No. 3,650,390 to Chung, U.S. Pat. No. 3,429,718 to Helms, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,557,141 to Rebora.
None of these packaged frozen food products are in the form of an integrated food tray which includes a tray housing having a plurality of food containers formed therein for holding separate food items, and having means for separating the food containers from each other so that the food items may be heated and cooled selectively. None of the above-mentioned prior art patents and current methods of food packaging provide, in a single package, an integrated multi-course meal receptacle housing which can be separated into two or more meal course portions, which portions can then be selectively heated and cooled using an appliance which is best suited to the meal course item for which it is used. None of the above-mentioned prior art patents and current methods of food packaging provide a receptacle housing having a variety of different meal course food portion containers which allows such meal course food portion containers to be easily separated and then chosen for heating and cooling prior to serving. None of the above-mentioned prior art patents and current methods of food packaging provide the other unique features and advantages of the subject integrated food tray described herein.